Every technological innovation or “disruption” produces an increase in content consumption. The next innovation, according to Mark Schaefer will be wearables, augmented reality and filters.

All three pieces relate to data, i.e., content. Wearables and augmented reality produce it while filters like Zite help consumers control it. In such a developing world, how will marketers stand out, develop leads and close sales?

Schaefer suggests that brands will have to shift their content in response. While blogging may remain a relevant avenue of content creation, content will have to translate to and transform into “interactive, immersive experiences.”

Brands will also have to redefine content. Content is no longer content but “fuel.” It’s what drives the filters in much the same way that music files inform Pandora. As Pandora listeners indicate their music preferences, their stations become ever more focused on a particular type of fuel.

That isn’t to say other fuel will be lost to view with the introduction of filters. If a healthy body is partially determined by eating from all the different food groups – fuel – so, too, is the brain. The question facing brands is how to present their fuel in such a manner that they attract the pickiest of eaters, even the ones who are content with their white bread and bologna sandwiches for lunch and dinner.

Schaefer says that that attraction most often happens when brands focus less on selling and more on being human. No matter what the technology innovation, people buy from people they know and trust. If brands can prove themselves not only interesting but also trustworthy, their content could end up being consumed by even the white-bread-and-bologna diners.

Brands shouldn’t worry too much about attracting those diners; their steak-and-asparagus fare is meant for a particular person. If they want to increase sales, new customers are needed, but it’s the qualified leads and existing customers who deserve more time and attention.

Those people are already interested in the brand and its content. It’s up to the brands to develop content and experiences that are relevant, interesting, timely and entertaining to that audience.

If they focus on that, they will attract the white-bread-and-bologna diners because the steak-and-asparagus ones will share the content and experiences. It’s a phenomenon Schaefer calls “content as currency.”

Such content is shared and consumed because it makes people feel smarter, cooler, and more relevant and results in brand awareness growth and new customer acquisitions.